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BioCardia Files for $50M IPO for Cell-Based Cardiovascular Therapies

BioCardia, a San Carlos, CA-based company expecting to enter its lead cell-based therapy for cardiovascular disease into a Phase 3 trial this year, filed paperwork saying it hopes to raise about $50 million in an initial public offering.

The company wants to sell 3.85 million shares for $12 to $14 per share, according to an SEC document. The offering is being underwritten by Cantor Fitzgerald, Roth Capital Partners, and Maxim Group.

The drug developer expects to enroll its first patient in a pivotal trial for a treatment for ischemic systolic heart failure later in 2015, and it may have data on the drug by 2017. BioCardia says it believes its treatment would be the first cell therapy for heart failure.

The company also expects to file an investigational new drug application for the Phase 2 trial of a second therapy in 2016, according to the document filed with the SEC. This drug would also target ischemic systolic heart failure, which BioCardia says develops after a heart attack. It occurs when the left side of the heart doesn’t pump blood out to the body in the way it should, according to WebMD.

BioCardia’s lead drug is an autologous cell-based therapy, or one that uses a patient’s own bone marrow cells. Its second treatment is an allogeneic cell-based therapy, which uses cells that come from multiple donors, the company says.

David Holley is Xconomy's national correspondent based in Austin, TX. You can reach him at dholley@xconomy.com Follow @xconholley